


I Didn't Know I Was Looking For You

by Miss_Ebony



Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Greek Mythology, Gods AU, Greek Mythology - Freeform, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-18
Updated: 2016-10-08
Packaged: 2018-06-03 02:19:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 20,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6592669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miss_Ebony/pseuds/Miss_Ebony
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sousuke was fine with being alone, really. As the god of the underworld you basically <em>had</em> to be. Nevertheless, this didn’t mean he was immune to getting lonely. Oh no. </p>
<p>So he starts to wander the human world, looking for distraction, not knowing he’d find the love of his life instead.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue: Getting out of Hell

**Author's Note:**

> So, this time I came up with a little AU! A freeform of Greek Mythology to be precise, set in ancient Greece ^^
> 
> Well, I'm not entirely sure where I'm going to take this fic yet, so the rating might change at some point and I guess I'll add more tags as I go. Just so you know.
> 
> Weeeell, I just had to post this little sneak peak at the story, or else I guess I'd never get it going! Haha ^^'

He couldn’t stand it any longer, really. Just as the whines of the dead kept on getting louder, Sousuke’s sighs did so as well. He covered his ears and shifted in his throne, a wasted attempt at making himself any more comfortable. His eyes drifted to the large hellfire burning in the fireplace, dimming the whole hall into an angry red. He clicked his tongue in annoyance as he eventually got up to make his way over to the flames. As he did so, he rounded the large banquet in the middle of the hall, grabbing a sparkling goblet in passing. As he came closer, the flames started to growl, trying to grab for him, their way of begging him for release.

The souls of the dead would just never allow him a moment of peace.

“Back off!” he bellowed, using his most authoritative voice. To make his point clear, he poured the liquid from the goblet into the fire, making it hiss angrily. Like this, the flames went from red to blue, and the keening that had filled the hall only moments before was finally gone.

Like an afterthought he threw the goblet into the fire as well, where it was immediately swallowed and gone. He kept on staring into the flames, feeling his shoulders slump as he brought his hands up to rub over his eyes, exhaling deeply.

He suddenly felt something furry press up against his leg, and as he took his hands away to look down, he found Cerberus looking up at him, his eyes reflecting the dancing flames, making them look as if they were burning themselves. Sousuke gave him a weak smile and let his hands fall to his sides. Then he dropped down to crouch in front of the large black dog and began scratching his head reassuringly. “I’m fine, Cerberus,” he mumbled. “I’m fine.”

That’s what he kept telling himself. But if he had to be honest… Well, he might be the god of the underworld, but if this kept on any longer, he’d go insane.

He kept on casting his fingers absentmindedly through Cerberus’ fur, turning to stare into the flames once more. Well, it wasn’t like he could escape his duties, but right now he felt like he could really do with a little change of scene. He got up and looked down at Cerberus, who was now lolling his tongue, his eyes plastered inquisitively to his master.

“What do you think?” he asked, and it came out more like he was asking himself instead of Cerberus. The dog cocked his head before barking two times. Sousuke looked down at him contemplatively before sighing, “Ah, well.”

He guessed he could pay the human world a little visit.

\------

“Oh, my lord, to what do I owe the honor of your visit?”

The ferryman, clad in a black cloak, its hood shadowing his face, got up in his boat and bowed deeply as Sousuke approached him.

“Stupid question,” he grumbled. “Get me across that damned river.” He got on the boat that was floating on the Styx, the river that needed to be crossed to get from the realm of the living to the underworld. Or to get from the underworld to the human world, in his case.

Like that, the ferryman was pushing them off of the riverbank, casting his long bar through the black water.

“How long has it been since you last visited the mortals?”

Sousuke ignored his question because, really, the guy should know. After all he’d gotten him to the other side back then as well. There came a snicker from under the hood at his silence.

“Ay, the dead aren’t as interesting as the living. After all they’re all a little…taciturn down here, aren’t they?”

“Oh, shut up,” he said, not in the mood to talk to the guy at all. He didn’t really like him. It was probably about his demeanor or something, but he actually couldn’t pinpoint it.

“I’m begging your pardon, my lord,” the ferryman said, not sounding sorry at all. “But down here one does not simply have a screw loose, but one’s tongue gets loose as well.”

“Just hurry it up.” He wanted to get away from this man, get out of this boat, get away from this omnipresent feeling of death hanging in the air. Or else he might just start feeling dead himself, really.

Sousuke closed his eyes and let a sigh escape his lips. Sometimes he just felt like he needed to fill his lungs with air carrying the scent of life. And right now was one of those times.


	2. Thy Eyes

“And as she saw me, she actually thought _I_ was the shepherd who stole her lyre.”

The whole hall erupted into bright laughter as Rin finished his story, leaning back in his throne, quite pleased with himself at the way he got the punch line. Gou was pressing her hands to her mouth, failing to contain her giggling, Kisumi had toppled over from the force of his laughter, now lying flat on his back on the cushions of the divan, all while Nagisa was laughing tears, spread over Rei, who himself was no better.

“Oh you didn’t!” Kisumi managed between huffs of laughter.

“Rin, you’re killing me here!” Nagisa exclaimed, wiping his tears away.

“Well, of course I - ,” he started, wanting to see if he could make them laugh even harder, but he was interrupted by Ai and Momo bursting into the hall.

“RIN, RIN!!” They came to a screeching halt in front of Rin’s throne, doubling over as they tried to catch their breath.

“Calm down you two,” Rin said, his brow slightly furrowing. “What is it?”

Momo was the first to speak. “Your brother is walking among the mortals”, he managed between gasps for air.

Rin raised his brows in surprise before he let out a snort of laughter. “Haru? He actually managed to get his ass out of the water? And I thought he - ” He trailed off as he saw Momo and Ai exchange a quick look.

“Uhm,” Ai started. “It’s not Haruka.” He swallowed heavily before he straightened up to look at Rin with big eyes. “It’s Sousuke.”

If there’d still been the occasional giggle before, while listening to Ai and Momo, the hall fell dead silent now.

“Sousuke you say?” The words were barely above a whisper, but Rin couldn’t register who said them through the mist that was starting to fog his brain.

He felt all eyes in the hall turn on him, and as his knuckles turned white from where he was gripping the armrests of the throne too hard, and his breathing got more labored, the air around him started to crackle angrily with electricity. Gou got slowly up and started to make her way over to him. “Rin, listen,” she began in a soothing voice.

But he wouldn’t listen.

He got up from his throne in a stiff abrupt motion, the movement making the electricity around him discharge as a small lightning.

“Excuse me,” he ground out through gritted teeth, the two words echoing too loud in the absolute silence. And like this, he was stomping through the large gate of the hall, the sound of his steps hanging in the air just as heavily as the electricity only moments before.

\------

Sousuke was somewhat impressed by the things humans had learned to build throughout the ages. Especially by the speed of their building because he was pretty sure this particular city right here at the coast hadn’t been there when he last visited the human world. So he was now walking the unfamiliar streets of an unfamiliar city which was apparently called Iwatobi. 

The tall buildings of the city were built of white marble and their polished front sides reflected the sun’s rays beautifully, making them look like they were glowing. At some point one could even catch a glimpse at the sea between the gaps of two buildings, and as Sousuke climbed one of the broad stairs which seemed to be scattered all over the city, he got a full view of the bright sparkling blue. He stopped on the steps, leaning on the balustrade to savor the image for a moment. It made him involuntarily think of his brother: Even though Haru was an ass, he sure had a nice domain. Sousuke sighed and pushed himself off of the balustrade, thinking of how the sickening black water that ran through the rivers in the underworld was absolutely no comparison to the sea.

He kept on strolling through the streets, watching the seagulls gliding through the sky above and the humans walking through the streets beneath. With every human he saw walking by, Sousuke felt like he could breathe a little freer, like his lungs could finally fill themselves to their fullest again after breathing too shallowly for too long.

The street he was walking right now was a narrow alley which seemed to lead further into the city, and Sousuke was happily following its way as he didn’t really care where he’d get as long as he’d get somewhere, where he could watch the humans for a while. And the alley was gladly fulfilling his wish as it had lead him to a marketplace with enough people bustling about to make the whole place buzz with life right there in front of him.

A slow smile started to form on Sousuke’s face. Ah, this was what he’d been craving.

Wanting to mingle a little, he stepped out of the alley and walked over to the market stalls. As he was making his way over the market, he chose to sit down on the rim of a fountain he’d found in the center of the place, letting his eyes explore the scenery: He watched the people argue with the merchants about prices, watched the smooth movements of the merchant’s hands as they were presenting their goods to everyone who wanted or not wanted to see them. Sousuke watched a young man buying a necklace for the girl by his side, making her blush but simultaneously beam up at him. He watched a group of boys chasing each other over the marketplace, stopping by the fountain to refresh themselves with the water in it. Sousuke watched them closely. They were so young and so full of life, not a single wrinkle visible in their features, but they’d still end up in the underworld with him no matter what.

The boys dashed off again, yelling at each other to catch up and run faster. Sousuke tore his eyes away from them and sighed. Well, all of these mortals here would end up with him in the end.

He went back to watch the people going about their business as his gaze brushed the face of a boy with light brown hair, and as he caught sight of the boy’s eyes, Sousuke’s thoughts stopped dead in their tracks. The color of the boy’s eyes was a deep pure green, making them look like they were sparkling emeralds. Sousuke’s breath stopped. Those eyes looked just like –

He felt his lips part slightly as he watched the boy move through the crowd, and he felt an unexpected sudden urge to shout out to the boy, getting those eyes to turn on him. Sousuke shook his head to clear his mind before he’d do so. He was being ridiculous, really. But as he turned back to look at the boy once more, he was gone. Sousuke blinked several times, somewhat dumbfounded. He wondered if his eyes had just been playing tricks on him, or if he’d really just seen the same emerald eyes he’d only seen belonging to one person once before in his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry, they're soon to meet


	3. As We Meet

Sousuke kept on walking the streets of Iwatobi for the rest of the day with the faint hope of maybe finding the boy once more. But he actually knew it was useless, the city was just too large to find anyone without knowing where they went. Well, it wasn’t like Sousuke knew where to go in the first place anyway. The longer he kept on wandering the city, the less he knew where he was. But Sousuke was perfectly fine with it. He just enjoyed discovering new places by chance and watching the humans. They were all so much alike, yet never really the same.

As the sun kept on climbing higher in the sky, Sousuke found himself walking a street that apparently lead out of the town, turning from an actual road into a dusty trail, snaking its way through grassy fields littered with rocks, while leading away from the coast. He could see the trail being swallowed by a grove not too far in the distance. He decided to follow its path, wanting to see if the grove would bear anything of interest.

As he followed the trail to the grove, he enjoyed the light breeze sweeping over the fields, coming in directly from the sea. Sousuke took a deep breath. In the underworld you surely didn’t get a sea breeze like this. As he finally entered the grove, he was immediately fascinated by its atmosphere: Quiet and mysterious, yet with the green of the trees and the occasional sound of animals so full of life, but still so different from the kind of life he’d experienced in the city. Nature would never lose its charm. After all, being the god of the underworld didn’t mean he couldn’t appreciate the peace and beauty of nature.

He started to smile to himself as he walked the shadowy trail underneath the canopy of the trees, glancing up to see some sun rays trying to sneak their way through it. Then, on one side of the trail, the trees started to give way to a meadow which was filled with white flowers. And between those flowers, Sousuke spotted a guy who was crouching in the middle of the meadow with his back turned to Sousuke, picking flowers while whistling happily. A guy he’d seen only some hours before.

Sousuke stopped like thunderstruck. There he was, the boy whom he couldn’t find in Iwatobi, but now on a meadow in a grove, picking flowers. Sousuke shook his head, wondering for the second time this day if his eyes were playing tricks on him. But as he looked over once more, the boy was still there.

He started to worry his lip as he kept on staring at the boy’s back. What should he do? Should he walk over and take a closer look at his face, or should he just go on, telling himself he was imagining things? He’d probably regret the latter, but wasn’t quite sure if he’d actually be able to manage the former. Ugh. Instead of moving or doing anything at all, Sousuke just kept on staring. Internally he cursed himself: He was the god of the underworld for crying out loud! He should show some backbone and –

The boy suddenly turned around, reaching for another flower. That was when he spotted Sousuke. At first the boy looked surprised to find somebody standing there, but then a warm smile started to bloom on his face, and he brought the hand, in which he was holding his just picked flower, up to give Sousuke a small wave.

Sousuke felt his mouth hanging slightly open, and it took him an embarrassingly long moment to return the wave. Oh yeah, god of the underworld and backbone, sure. He internally slapped himself for still doing nothing, but then he finally, _finally_ got his feet to move and then he was actually walking over to the boy.

“Uhm, hey,” Sousuke said in greeting as he approached the boy, trying for casual but feeling hopelessly awkward instead. To avoid looking at the boy’s reaction at his nearing, Sousuke kept his gaze plastered to the ground, making it look like he was trying very hard and with great effort not to step on any of the beautiful flowers. It would surely make a good impression.

“Hello!” the boy said, and as Sousuke finally brought himself to look the boy in the eye at close range, he felt like his breath was taken away by the sight. His eyes weren’t like the one pair he remembered from a long time ago, he’d been mistaken about that one. Those eyes right there in front of him were even more beautiful.

Like this, Sousuke didn’t even notice that he was staring, but he was quickly reminded as the boy spoke up again. “Uhm, are you looking for someone?”

Sousuke felt like answering with, ‘Yes, actually I’ve been somehow looking for you the whole day’, but he knew he couldn’t say so. After all, it wasn’t his intention to make himself look like a creepy stalker. So he just went with, “No, I was just – ”

“Oh sorry, of course, you’re surely looking for the way to Iwatobi, right?” The boy hurried to say as if he’d said something insulting to Sousuke before and was now wanting to make up for it. “Well, you’re on the right way. You just need to – ”

“Ah, wait, no. I’m not looking for the way to Iwatobi,” Sousuke interjected quickly as the boy went on.

“Oh, sorry,” the boy said, blushing slightly.

Sousuke wanted to tell him to stop apologizing for nothing. “Ah, n-no, it’s alright. I was just going for a little walk,” he said lamely, and to cover it up he tried to make his composure look especially confident and relaxed. He was just being so smooth with this boy, he could hardly believe how smooth he was, really.

“Oh, I see,” the boy said, smiling up at him a little bashfully.

Sousuke noticed himself staring again, and to stop himself from doing so, he asked, “Hey, what are you doing there?” There were some picked flowers lying at the boy’s feet, but there was also something that appeared to be a wreath once it was finished.

“Oh!” The boy turned to pick up the short string of white flowers. “I’m making a flower crown,” he said, beaming up at Sousuke.

“A what?” Sousuke looked at the flowers in confusion.

“A flower crown!” The boy said, and Sousuke was apparently still looking like he didn’t get it because that was when the boy stood up to show it to him. “Look, you knot the stalks of the flowers like this,” he explained, showing it to Sousuke, “and once your chain is long enough to form a crown, you knot the two ends together, and voilà! You got your flower crown!” He flashed Sousuke a bright smile as he brought the flowers up to his head, probably trying to give him a rough image of how it’d look in the end.

Sousuke was utterly baffled by the boy’s enthusiasm and the way he smiled at Sousuke. It was just infectious, really. So he had to smile himself as he said, “That’s pretty cool. Now I want to make one of those myself.”

“Really?” the boy asked surprisedly, a slight glitter in his beautiful green eyes. Then, after a short pause, he added, “Y-You could join me…if you wanted to.” He ducked his head as he said so, shooting Sousuke a shy look.

“It’d be my pleasure!” Sousuke hurried to say, not quite able to believe that he was allowed to keep the boy company. Sousuke was rewarded with a broad smile and he just couldn’t help but smile as well. “Ah, by the way, I’m Sousuke.”

The boy huffed out a laugh before saying with a genuine smile, “My name’s Makoto. It’s really a nice surprise to meet you Sousuke.”

Sousuke savored the picture for a long moment. So, his mysterious green-eyed boy finally had a name: Makoto.


	4. Flower Crowns

“You know, I keep knotting these stalks together just like you showed me, but it still looks like shit.” Sousuke held his flower chain up to show it to Makoto. They were now sitting on the meadow together, making flower crowns. Well, Makoto was making one, he himself was trying and failing.

Makoto shot him an amused look from where he was making his own chain longer. “Well, it’s your first time, so don’t sweat it. Once you’ve made a few, they’ll look really good.”

Sousuke looked at Makoto’s chain and then at his own, his brows drawing together in disapproval. Oh well, practice makes perfect. Yeah, this also applied to gods because he was very far from perfect, hands down. He took another flower and went back to knotting as he asked, “So, you’re doing this regularly? ‘Cause seriously, yours looks pretty much perfect.”

He watched Makoto’s cheeks turn slightly red as he said so. “Ah, well. I come here from time to time. You know, to have some private time. And when I’m here all on my own, I happen to make flower crowns.” Sousuke watched Makoto stare down at the flowers in his hands as if he was thinking hard and the flowers would bear the answers to any question. For a short moment his seemingly permanent smile faltered, and Sousuke wondered why exactly Makoto came here to be alone.

Then Makoto’s head snapped back up like he’d just caught himself spacing out, and he gave Sousuke an apologetic look. “Of course I’m not saying you should leave!” Sousuke blinked at Makoto’s flustered state several times when Makoto started to fiddle with the flowers in his hands. “T-That’s really not what I’ve been trying to say. But - Ah, well, never mind,” he said. He kept on fiddling with his flowers as he added, “It’s actually very nice of you to keep me company.”

Sousuke really couldn’t believe this boy. He felt like shaking his head and telling Makoto to stop making it look like he was forcing Sousuke into being with him, seriously. But all he did was huffing out a laugh and saying, “Actually I’m the one who’s grateful for your company. Seriously, just at the beginning of this very day I felt like I was going crazy because – Ah, uhm, I was all alone as well.” Shit, he’d only known Makoto for barely an hour and he already started rambling, far too close to spilling his guts for his liking. He got a grip on himself as he continued, “And now I’m sitting here with you, making flower crowns, and I feel like I haven’t had this much fun for ages.” Which was quite literally the truth.

Makoto looked at him like he didn’t believe him, and Sousuke just laughed, “Don’t look like that! I’m really having fun! Even though my flower crown’ll look like shit, I’m really enjoying myself!” And as he said so, it suddenly occurred to him that it felt like he hadn’t laughed like this since forever, and realization struck him that Makoto had done something like this to him within knowing each other for less than an hour. Well, they didn’t even _know_ each other, so Sousuke was even more baffled. Either he was just really desperate for human company and shouldn’t think too much of it, or Makoto was just – Yeah, what was Makoto? Special?

As Sousuke looked at Makoto, the boy was giving him a huge smile which immediately made the corners of his own mouth curve up. Oh really, Makoto’s smile would probably get anyone to smile along with it.

“You’re just too nice,” Makoto said as he went back to knotting, looking down at his flowers still smiling. “You probably need to go about your business, but instead you’re willing to spend your free time with a total stranger, making silly things like flower crowns.”

Sousuke was about to protest, to tell Makoto that them sitting here, making flower crowns, wasn’t silly at all and that he’d just told him that he was more than willing to do so, but Makoto continued before he could say so. “But I’m really happy that you’re enjoying yourself nevertheless.”

Makoto said those words so softly and with such a soft smile that Sousuke was at a loss for words. So instead of saying anything at all, he continued to work on his flower crown as well. There was a short beat of silence before Makoto spoke up again. “So, are you from here? From Iwatobi?”

It was a simple innocent question, but it made Sousuke’s breath hitch nevertheless. Well, he could obviously not tell Makoto that he was ‘from the underworld’ because hey, he was apparently the god of death, the god whom the humans loathed the most. Well, it had never been a big surprise to him, really. After all, they hated him for obvious reasons because no one likes the topic of death in general. And even though Sousuke wasn’t responsible for anyone dying, it seemed like humans loved to make someone responsible for things they didn’t understand or didn’t want to understand. Like death.

In the end, Makoto was a human as well. So why should he be any different?

“Uhm, I’m not from here,” Sousuke said to buy himself some time to come up with something clever to say. But Makoto helped him out with that one.

“Oh, so you’re a traveler?” Makoto looked at him, his eyes shining with interest.

Sousuke started to feel a little uncomfortable as he held Makoto’s gaze, lying right through his teeth, “Yeah, I just arrived the other day. So I’m all new to Iwatobi and everything.” Which was technically speaking not even a lie, but, well.

Makoto’s eyes went a little wider as he said so. “Oh, I see,” he said. Then he just kept on staring at Sousuke like he was thinking about something, and he really hoped that he hadn’t made himself look suspicious right now by giving such a vague answer.

But Makoto’s gaze dropped back to the flowers in his hands eventually, and Sousuke internally huffed out a sigh of relief.

“You know, I could show Iwatobi to you.”

He watched Makoto steal a glance at him, before starting to fiddle with his flowers again. Sousuke was quite perplexed because he wasn’t quite sure if he’d gotten that one right. Makoto asking him to show him the city? Pfft, no way.

But then Makoto added in a hurried tone, “I-If you wanted to! I-I mean, maybe you already got somebody to show you around, or you already saw the city, or you just don’t want it being me to show you around, or – ” Makoto cut himself off, looking at Sousuke once more before huffing out a small frustrated laugh. “Sorry, I’m rambling.”

That was when Sousuke finally got himself to say something. “Ah, no, no, no, wait. It’d be totally awesome if you’d show me around!” His words came out quite rushed and he wondered if he’d just sounded desperate.

“Really?” Makoto looked up at him once more, his eyes glittering. “Uhm, I mean, alright then. You see, Iwatobi’s my hometown, so I know my way around.”

Sousuke smiled at the way Makoto tried to cover up his obvious excitement. So, maybe, just maybe, Sousuke wasn’t the only one who was looking for company.

“So, how about tomorrow?” Sousuke asked, smiling slightly.

It didn’t take Makoto long to agree, “Alright, tomorrow it’ll be.” Sousuke’s little smile was met with a broad one, and like this they kept on talking about anything and everything as they continued to make their flower crowns.

But each of them didn’t end up making one. They ended up making several ones, laughing together as Sousuke’s looked actually _good_ in the end. That was when the sun started to set and Makoto needed to go back home.

“So, where should we meet tomorrow?” Makoto asked. “I could meet you on the trail leading to Iwatobi from here.”

“Alright,” he said, grinning.

As Makoto got up, he asked, “So, where are you headed to now?” Sousuke got up as well but with no intention to go anywhere because he actually had no idea where he would or should go now. So he just said, “I guess I’m going to stay here a little longer.”

Makoto gave him a short nod and a last smile as he said, “Alright. Then, see you tomorrow, Sousuke.” And like this Makoto was waving him goodbye, making his way through the flowers back to the trail. Sousuke watched him leave and then he saw Makoto shooting him a last look before he eventually disappeared in the grove.

Sousuke kept his gaze plastered to the trees where Makoto had just disappeared behind. So, he’d meet Makoto again. He’d meet him again just tomorrow. Sousuke was smiling before he even knew it, and he started wondering if smiling like this was the side effect of knowing Makoto. Well, if it was, Sousuke was more than fine to deal with it.

Suddenly, without any indication, Sousuke had the odd yet strong feeling that he wasn’t the only one standing on this meadow. And he was pretty sure the other one wasn’t Makoto. His smile faltered immediately as he turned around in a swift motion, but instead of finding no one standing there, something was hitting him in the face very hard. The unexpected blow caught him absolutely off guard and it sent him crashing to the ground in a matter of seconds. Sousuke was shocked by the sheer force of the blow because _no_ human being could hit like that.

His eyes went wide as he found a man with red hair standing right in front of him. He was glaring down at Sousuke, slightly shaking his right hand with which he’d apparently hit Sousuke right in the face.

“Rin?” he whispered then, feeling his jaw starting to pulse with the sharp rush of pain.

He watched Rin’s jaw set as the redhead’s glare became even darker.


	5. Dear Brother

For a long moment, Sousuke was just too stunned to get up or to do anything at all but stare at his younger brother in shock. He hadn’t seen Rin for ages, so what would make the redhead hit him out of the blue? Hit him hard by the way, because holy shit, he was just glad being a god right now or else he would’ve had some serious problems with his jaw for the rest of his life after that blow.

But instead of saying something to explain his actions, Rin just kept on staring down at him all while Sousuke kept on staring back, his mind racing, asking himself what he could’ve possibly done to his brother to make him hit him like that. But then, Rin finally said in a low voice, “Sousuke.”

That one word eventually broke the silent spell between them, and Sousuke hurried to scramble to his feet, his right hand massaging his throbbing jaw.

Now Sousuke was the one looking down at his younger brother, staring him straight in the eye as he started, “Rin, what’s going on? Why would you – ”

But then Rin was moving again, and Sousuke feared for a brief moment that he might want to hit him again. So he braced himself for the blow, ready to dodge it at any time. What he didn’t expect was a heavy sigh from his brother as he let his head fall onto Sousuke’s shoulder, bringing his arms around him to embrace him in a loose hug.

“I’ve missed you.” The words were barely above a whisper, muffled by Sousuke’s shoulder, but they were still there.

For a short beat, Sousuke just stood there not catching up, but as his brain had finally processed that he wouldn’t get hit again and that Rin was actually hugging him now, he turned to hug Rin back.

“I’ve missed you too.” It was the truth, he’d really missed his brother, but… “But why would you hit me instead of saying so first?”

Rin huffed out a small laugh as he lifted his head off of Sousuke’s shoulder, letting go of his older brother. The redhead turned to look at him, but this time his eyes seemed, if he wasn’t mistaken, relieved but also a little sad.

“We,” he said, “need to talk.”

\------

“You know, for a short moment I was really close to hitting you twice.”

Night had already fallen as they were now lying side by side on the meadow, gazing up into the night sky. Sousuke turned his head to look at his brother’s profile. He didn’t seem like he was joking. So Sousuke wanted to protest, but that was when Rin went on.

“Actually, when I first heard that you were walking the realm of the mortals, I was furious.” Sousuke’s brow furrowed as he kept on watching his brother’s features. Even though he wanted to, he decided to not interrupt Rin and he told himself to just listen to what his brother wanted to tell him.

Rin sighed as he put his hands behind his head, staring into the dark sky. “But lucky for you, Gou talked some sense into me.”

Sousuke couldn’t help but huff out a laugh. He could picture the scene just as clearly as if he’d witnessed it himself: Gou and Rin yelling at the top of their lungs at each other, with Gou eventually succeeding in convincing Rin that he was being ridiculous. “Well, she’s not the goddess of wisdom for nothing.”

Now Rin was the one to give a small laugh. “Damn, you’re right.” Sousuke allowed himself a smile as his brother did so as well. But then Rin said, “But you know, I’m still mad at you.”

Sousuke heaved a sigh at that. “So c’mon, tell me what I’ve done to make you want to beat the crap out of me.”

At his words, Sousuke watched Rin sit up to stare at him, his eyes slightly narrowed.

“What you’ve done?” he asked, sounding incredulous. “ _You_ just dropped off of the face of the earth for years!”

Rin sounded like he was pointing out the most obvious thing in the world to Sousuke. Then he continued, his tone of voice turning slightly snide, “After that – that thing with – ”

“Don’t say it.”

“– Persephone, you were just so out of it!” Rin made a helpless gesture with his hands, indicating that Sousuke had been _really_ out of it.

Sousuke felt his teeth clench as he stiffly sat up to be at eye level with Rin. “Don’t you dare talk about her like _that_. I swear if you’ve just come here to deride – ”

“Hear me out, dammit,” Rin interjected quickly. “I’m not deriding _anyone_ , okay? So, look: After Persephone, I just couldn’t stand seeing you like…like that. It was horrible.” Rin sighed as he dragged his hand through his hair. “You know, I meant it when I said you could come to me at any time to talk about it. But you didn’t come. Instead you holed up down there, even telling that damned ferryman to not let any of us across that damned river! I was so mad at you. Hell, I’m _still_ mad at you. I wondered why you’d do that to yourself.” Rin made a short pause as he stared down at his hands. “I could understand that you wouldn’t want to talk to any of the others. Not even Gou. But I didn’t understand why you never came to me.”

Rin shook his head as he closed his eyes to take a deep breath. Then he looked at Sousuke, his eyes tired and sad, and Sousuke knew that he expected him to say something.

“Well, now I’m here, aren’t I?” Sousuke let himself fall back onto the soft grass of the meadow, avoiding his brother’s gaze.

“Sousuke.”

Even though Rin’s voice was soft, it still forced Sousuke to look at him. “What is it, Rin?”

“Are you alright?”

He gave a bitter laugh. “I’m fine. You see…I’ve come to terms with it.”

“Come to terms with it, you say.” Rin just shook his head. Then he threw his hands in the air as he said, “Fine. Alright. If you’re still too stubborn to do yourself a favor and to just open up to me so I could actually _help_ you, then that’s your call. Even though I’d like to, I can’t force you into talking to me.”

Sousuke looked at his brother, his brows drawing together. Then he closed his eyes as he sighed, “Rin, listen – ”

“No really, it’s fine. Don’t bother with me just because I’ve bothered with you.” Now Rin was just sounding sarcastic. “I just don’t get it why you’re acting like you needed to deal with everything all on your own. Because you’re not all alone, dammit.”

Sousuke looked up into the sky as he said, “I know.”

“Then why?”

Yeah, why?

He sat up once again, hugging his knees to his chest as he said, “I – I needed my time back then. But now I’m fine, I really am. I wouldn’t have come to the realm of the mortals if I still wasn’t.” He gave Rin a smile, but both of them knew that it wasn’t genuine.

Rin was quiet for a long moment before he said, “Alright. If you say so. But please, if you need to talk, come to me.”

He smiled again, but this time it was genuine. “Thanks Rin. I promise I will.”

“So, you’ve been here the whole day, or what?” Rin let himself fall back as he swiftly changed the subject. “Tell me, what did you do on your first day among the humans since forever?”

Sousuke huffed out a laugh as he lay down as well. “Well, I’ve actually met a very nice human.”

Rin sounded amused as he asked, “A very nice human?”

“Well, yeah, his smile is somewhat really stunning,” he said, smiling to himself as he remembered the past couple of hours. “And his name is Makoto.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, all I want to say for now is that in this story Persephone isn't the daughter of Zeus and Demeter but only the daughter of Demeter! 'Cause it really wouldn't fit if she was Rin's daughter xD  
> But enough spoilers for now ;3


	6. Off We Go

They kept on talking and talking throughout the whole night, laughing together as Rin told him what he’d missed out on. Sousuke felt the last tension, which had still been lingering in his shoulders, finally draining from his body, making him feel comfortable enough to listen to Rin’s tirades with a lazy smile on his lips.

It felt strangely comforting to just lie in the grass, and feel his brother’s presence next to him as they were staring up into the already dawning sky. Up until then, Sousuke hadn’t even realized just how much he’d missed his brother. Well, even though he was telling him an absolutely nonsensical story right now. But that was Rin for you.

It seemed like some things just wouldn’t change, no matter how much time would pass.

“Well, and as she saw me, she actually thought _I_ was the shepherd who stole her lyre.”

Sousuke turned to look at his brother, raising one eyebrow skeptically.

As there came no immediate reaction to his story’s end, Rin turned to look at him as well. His brows drew together as he asked, “What?”

Sousuke huffed out a dismissive laugh as he turned back to watching the stars being swallowed by dawn. “Oh, nothing. I was just thinking that you were still all talk.”

“Wha- No!” Rin sounded utterly disapproving. “I’m not all talk!”

“Oh please. Who’d actually _believe_ that story?”

Rin sat up to give Sousuke a dirty look. “You know, all the others did. And if you’re trying to say that I’m – ”

As Sousuke watched Rin getting all worked up, he couldn’t help but press a hand to his mouth to suppress the laughter that was threatening to escape his lips. He was just glad that he still knew how to push all the right buttons to get Rin all riled up.

Rin stopped mid-sentence as he saw Sousuke nearly losing it.

“Oh, you’re such an asshole.” The redhead let himself fall back into the grass, crossing his arms over his chest like a five year old.

That was when Sousuke lost it entirely, earning himself an even dirtier look from his younger brother.

“Oh yeah, haha, it’s just so funny to mock me.”

“I’d never mock you,” Sousuke disagreed, giving Rin a sweet smile.

Oh, and just how much he’d missed their banter.

And like this, they kept on chatting away with the sun eventually rising and climbing higher into the sky. That was when Sousuke felt like he actually needed to stop Rin from talking because the redhead seemed as if he wouldn’t do so on his own.

“Rin, you can’t tell me _everything_ in one night,” Sousuke laughed.

“Why, you need to be anywhere? That keen on getting back to your dead?”

Sousuke’s breath slightly hitched as Rin said so, but he knew that Rin was speaking without any intention to hurt him. He told himself that the redhead’s mouth was sometimes just too fast for his brain to filter it.

So he played it off by standing up and stretching slightly. “Not really. I’ve got plans for today.”

Rin watched him with his eyes slightly narrowed. “You’ve got plans.”

Even though it was a statement, Sousuke knew that Rin wanted him to elaborate this new piece of information.

“Well, yeah. I’m meeting up with Makoto today. He’ll show the city to me.”

Rin looked up at him a moment longer before he let his eyes fall shut, huffing out a laugh. Then, after some short beats of silence, he opened his eyes again to stare at Sousuke. “Wait. You’re serious?”

“Of course I’m serious.”

That was when Rin came to stand in front of him, examining him closely. “I don’t like the look on your face.”

Sousuke’s brow furrowed. “What’re you talking about?”

“Well, I’m obviously talking about that - ” He brought his hand up to indicate something on Sousuke’s face. “- that look in your eyes. There’s a strange little sparkle there, and I don’t like it.”

Sousuke blinked at his brother several times before he said, “You do realize that you’re being just silly right now, don’t you?”

“No, really, I’m serious. I’ve already noticed before, but now I know for sure: When you’re talking about that Makoto, you get this look.”

“This look.”

“Geez, you’ve always been slow on the uptake. But whatever. What I’m trying to say is: Be careful when it comes to humans. I don’t want to see – Well, I just don’t want to see that story with Persephone repeat itself all over again.”

It took Sousuke a moment to reply to that, “I know you think I’m stupid, but breaking news: I’m not. I’ve learned my lesson, and despite your thinking I don’t need to be chaperoned. Coming to think of it: Don’t you dare send Ai or Momo after me.”

Rin made a face as he said, “Don’t get your panties in a twist. I’m not saying you shouldn’t go and play to your hearts pleasure. What I’m trying to say is that you’re a god after all, not a human.”

“No need to remind me of that,” Sousuke said, the stern tone of his voice even surprising himself a little.

At that, Rin’s eyes widened a little, and he brought his hands up defensively. “Don’t be mad, I’m just saying. Because, just like I said: I don’t like the look in your eyes. And – ” Rin heaved a sigh as he looked at Sousuke. “Just promise me to be careful, alright?”

“Rin, I’m not five years old. I know what I’m doing.”

“As if,” Rin said under his breath, but Sousuke chose to pretend he hadn't heard it.

“Alright then.” Rin’s hand landed on Sousuke’s shoulder, giving it a firm squeeze. “Come and visit us sometime. The others would love to see you. Especially Gou.”

“Yeah, I will.”

A smile was tugging at the corners of Sousuke’s lips as he thought of how he’d really like to see all these idiots again.

“Alright, see you around then.” Rin started to walk off as he added, “Well, I hope I will. At least this time.”

And before Sousuke could say anything to that, Rin had already disappeared into the grove. Sousuke just shook his head as he thought of how Rin was probably going back, or just going off to play tricks on some poor unsuspecting mortals. He couldn't tell for sure.

But what he knew for sure was that it was now finally the time to meet up with Makoto. He guessed that the sudden rush of excitement running through his body was just him being eager for going back among the mortals. 

Well, obviously.

\------

“Oh, I’m so sorry Sousuke!”

Sousuke stood up from where he’d been sitting on a rock near the trail leading to Iwatobi. Makoto came to a halt in front of him, slightly out of breath, seeming as if he’d made the way here at a rather quick pace.

“Have you been waiting for long? I’m so sorry, really, but my parents just wouldn’t let me go before I – Uh, sorry, I’m rambling.” Makoto brought his hand up to run it through his hair in a nervous gesture.

Sousuke was utterly amazed at Makoto’s flustered state because really, he hadn’t even properly arrived yet, and instead of greeting Sousuke he was already apologizing. For nothing actually since he hadn’t even been waiting for _that_ long. Thanks to Rin’s rambling.

He just couldn’t help but give an amused smile to Makoto as he said, “Makoto, I came here only some time before you arrived, so don’t worry.”

At that, Makoto heaved a sigh of relief, now smiling himself. It was just plain beautiful to watch Makoto’s emerald eyes lighting up and that warm smile spreading across his face, and wait, Makoto was talking again.

“I – I’m sorry, what did you just say?”

Sousuke decided that he should really keep his thoughts from, well, wandering.

“I asked if you were ready to see Iwatobi,” Makoto repeated, cocking his head slightly. “Uhm, but if you’ve changed your mind, you just need to – ”

“Ah, no, no, no, wait! I most certainly haven’t changed my mind!” The words came out in one quick rush, and Sousuke, of course, didn’t blush at the way he must’ve sounded right now, oh no he didn’t.

But Makoto either seemed like he didn’t notice or like he wasn’t minding at all, because his smile was back as he said, “Well then: Let’s go!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a slight chance that I'll be without internet for the next two weeks or so.  
> If this won't be the case, you'll surely hear from me soon enough, but if it is, I'm afraid you won't ^^'  
> So, hang on guys!


	7. Don't Push Your Luck

“And look!”

Sousuke’s gaze followed Makoto’s extended arm to where it was pointing at something in the distance.

“That’s the main trading road to Iwatobi. On busy days you can watch a never ending streak of merchants come and go. You know, it’s quite the show.”

Makoto was flashing him a grin from where he was leaning on the balustrade surrounding the highest peak of Iwatobi, a nice little plaza which could only be reached if one was willing to climb quite a lot of stairs. Therefore it was pretty empty, but Sousuke wasn’t bothered by that at all.

They’d come here because Makoto had wanted to give him a good look at the whole city so they could decide afterwards what he’d show to Sousuke in particular. And it was quite the view: The city at full display stretched out before them with the sea directly joining it where the water was running through the harbour. 

They were standing side by side, the wind, coming in from the sea, occasionally ruffling their hair as Makoto kept on pointing at things and telling Sousuke the stories that went along with the places. They ranged from myths to things Makoto had experienced himself, making Sousuke gasp or double over with laughter at one point or another.

“Don’t laugh about it!” Makoto said, laughing himself as he shot Sousuke a sideways glance. “I still get the chills whenever I think of that old lady.”

“Sorry, I just can’t believe that _you_ were capable of making anyone that angry,” Sousuke huffed out between laughs as he grabbed for the balustrade to keep himself upright.

“Yeah, well, I’m full of surprises.”

Makoto had clearly meant it as a joke, laughing it off, but Sousuke couldn’t help but say, “Well, seems quite right to me.”

He watched Makoto’s cheeks turn red as he quickly turned to look anywhere but at Sousuke. 

“Oh, w-well.”

Sousuke internally slapped himself. Just why couldn’t he keep himself from saying weird stuff like that out of the blue? After all, he was still hardly more than a stranger to Makoto, so there was absolutely no guarantee that Makoto wouldn’t just bid him farewell so he could go on without needing to see Sousuke ever again.

Well, he really shouldn’t go and push his luck.

“So, uhm, shall we go on?”

The words let him snap back to reality where it actually seemed like Makoto wouldn’t want to bid him farewell forever. He suppressed a sigh of relief.

“Sure, let’s go,” he said, adding a somewhat wobbly smile.

\------

“Hey, what’s that fancy thing over there?”

They were walking a particularly broad street near the harbour when Sousuke spotted a large building which stood out from the others surrounding it: It’s large entrance was made of pillars carrying the buildings white marble roof all while it was separated from the other buildings by seemingly growing out of the coast’s rocks.

On the plaza in front of it stood a pretty impressively worked statue of a tall man, the size of it forcing Sousuke to look up to make out the man’s features: It was an old grim-looking man with tousled hair and beard, holding a trident in his right hand while his well-toned body was beautifully put on display.

Sousuke’s eyes narrowed as he placed his hands on his hips.

“Show-off,” he mumbled.

Makoto came to stand next to him in front of the statue, huffing out a laugh at Sousuke’s remark.

“Well, you might be right, but I guess mocking a god isn’t the smartest thing to do.”

Sousuke’s gaze snapped from the man’s fierce features to Makoto’s amused ones.

“Huh?”

He must’ve looked pretty confused because Makoto huffed out a laugh as he explained, “Well, this is Poseidon’s temple, and this – ” He made a gesture to indicate the statue. “ – is Poseidon. You know, he’s the patron of our city.”

Sousuke kept on staring at Makoto a few moments longer before he turned back to stare at the statue.

Well, the mortals seemed to have a pretty interesting image of Haru there.

He scrutinized the statue of the humans so called ‘Poseidon’ once more, this time trying his level best to suppress a fit of laughter because, really, this was just way too funny.

Haru looking like that? He really shouldn’t think about his brother posing like that with that _look_ on his face, or else he would have to explain his inappropriate laughter to Makoto. Well, and he really couldn’t tell him that he unfortunately knew the guy all too well, and that he was very far from looking like _that_.

“What’s so funny?” Makoto asked at last, quirking an eyebrow at Sousuke.

“Oh, well, it’s just… This statue is very different from what I’ve always imagined.”

“Oh, is that so?” Makoto turned to look at the statue himself. “Well, we could go inside if you wanted to. I could – ”

“Ah, n-no, I guess there’s no need for that,” Sousuke hurried to say.

Even though he was laughing about his brother, he didn’t quite feel like he needed to meddle with his business. If Haru really was the patron of this city, there was still a slight chance that he actually cared about it despite his usual indifference.

So, let sleeping dogs lie he guessed.

Makoto’s eyes went a little wider than usual as he looked at Sousuke. “So, are you saying you don’t believe in the gods?”

Now it was Sousuke’s turn to stare at Makoto in surprise. “That’s not what I’ve been trying to say!”

Then he turned to stare at the ground in front of him, rubbing the back of his neck as he said, “It’s just… You see, I’ve always had a different believe in gods.”

He suddenly felt Makoto’s hand on his shoulder, and as he turned to look at him, his expression was very soft. “It’s alright. You don’t need to tell me.”

So it seemed like Makoto was sensing a deep, probably tragic, secret behind his believe. Well, Makoto didn’t know just how close he actually was.

“Now come on! No need to dwell on that temple!”

Like this, Makoto started to lead the way away from the temple, clearly intending on taking Sousuke’s mind off the topic. 

Sousuke shook his head as he started to follow in his wake, a slow smile starting to form on his face. Makoto was just unbelievable.

\------

They hadn’t gone far when a broad staircase, which was leading off of the street they were walking, came up, seeming like it would lead the way down to the harbour. Sousuke stopped to take a good look at the ships floating on the calm water down at the sea: They ranged from small private boats to enormous merchant ships with people hustling all over the docks from one ship to another.

Sousuke was momentarily caught by the picture.

“Hey, Makoto! Is this – ”

He turned to look for Makoto but he’d already walked on, seemingly not even having thought of walking down to the harbour.

Sousuke hurried to catch up to Makoto. “Hey, wait a moment!”

At that Makoto turned around, instantly looking for Sousuke. “Oh, Sousuke I’m sorry! Did I just walk off?”

“Nah, it’s alright,” he said dismissively at Makoto’s concern. “But I wanted to ask whether we could go to the harbour ‘cause I’d really like to take a closer look at those ships.”

Sousuke watched Makoto’s expression change from concern to discomfort as he stole a quick glance at the harbour before he turned back to look at Sousuke, trying to cover it all up by giving him a weak smile.

“Or not,” Sousuke said, his brows drawing together in confusion.

“Well, you see,” Makoto started as he once again looked down at the sea. “I’m not…too fond of the harbour.”

So, it seemed like Makoto had deep secrets of his own.

He wasn’t quite sure why, but he suddenly felt like he needed to know what it was about that harbour. But he couldn’t just ask Makoto about it, that’d be just insensitive.

_Don’t push your luck, or else he’ll be gone before you know it._

In the end he just settled on ‘I see’ accompanied by a companionable smile.

“Ah, but enough of that!” Makoto said, clearly wanting to change the topic. He turned around once more, starting to lead the way away from the harbour. “After all you still need to see – ”

Sousuke reluctantly decided to leave things as they were as he started to follow Makoto. His enthusiasm seemed like it had recovered in no time, his lead confident as he suddenly stopped dead in his tracks with Sousuke bumping right into him.

“Hey, what’s – ”

“Well, coming to think of it, you just _need_ to see the market first!”

Like this Makoto turned right on his heels, starting to walk in the very opposite direction like he’d first intended to go. And that at a rather quick pace.

Sousuke just stood there a moment longer, staring down the street to probably see what had made Makoto change his mind so suddenly. But there was really nothing out of the ordinary, just some people minding their own business.

“Sousuke are you coming?”

As he turned back to look for Makoto, he was already waiting far down the street, his posture seemingly uneasy. So Sousuke hurried to catch up as quickly as possible without starting to run. He didn’t want to draw more attention than necessary to himself.

As he came to a halt in front of Makoto, he once again started, “Makoto, what’s – ”

But Makoto just wouldn’t let him finish his question.

“Hey, look!” he said, pointing at a narrow alley next to them. “Let’s take that shortcut!”

“Huh? A shortcut? But what – ”

But Makoto was just grabbing for his wrist as he started to drag him in the alley without another word, forcing Sousuke to just follow him. That was when Sousuke was really close to just stop and finally ask Makoto what the hell was going on as they bumped into two persons.

Makoto started to apologize right away, “Oh, I’m so sorry! My bad! I haven’t been paying attention to where – ”

“Wait a moment,” Sousuke interjected, making Makoto look at him with wide eyes as if he’d done something wrong.

He was staring intently at the two boys in front of them, one of them with silver hair and the other with orange hair.

His eyes narrowed dangerously as he asked, “Momo, Ai, what the hell are you doing here?”


	8. No Chaperone Needed

He watched Ai and Momo turn pale right there in front of him with Momo uncomfortably shifting his weight from one foot to the other and Ai swallowing thickly. At the same time, Makoto’s eyes went wide as his gaze jumped between the two boys and Sousuke.

“Well?” he prompted, raising one eyebrow challengingly.

“Heeey Sousuke!” Momo eventually called out, laughing rather nervously. “Long time no see! What a coincidence to meet you _here_!”

“Coincidence, my ass,” he grumbled as he felt himself getting more irritated by the second. This time he turned to Ai, hoping to get a better answer out of him as he asked once more, “What exactly are you two doing here? Are you here because Rin told you to do so?”

Ai looked anywhere but at Sousuke as he started stammering, “Uhm, w-well! Y-You see we – ”

“We’re sightseeing!” Momo called out, shooting Ai a look which, of course, didn’t went unnoticed by Sousuke.

“Y-Yes, we’re sightseeing!” Ai quickly confirmed.

Before Sousuke could say anything to that bullshit, Momo perked up again, starting to round Sousuke with Ai following him. “Man, it’s been awesome meeting you again, but unfortunately we’ve gotta go now! You know, sooooo many things to see, sooooo little time! But we’ll surely meet again sometime! So, bye bye!”

“Y-Yeah, bye Sousuke!”

Like this, Ai and Momo fled on the street Makoto and he had just left moments before, waving them goodbye like nothing had happened at all.

Sousuke wondered if this whole thing right now had actually _happened_ or if he was just imaginig things. But he guessed he wouldn’t imagine weird and irritating stuff like that.

Then he suddenly heard Makoto clear his throat nervously, and as he turned around to face him, he was rocking back and forth on his heels like he was ready to make a break for it himself.

“I-I hate being pushy, but could we maybe…go on?” He cocked his head, indicating the way down the alley.

Sousuke sighed as he stole one more glance at where Momo and Ai had disappeared before he walked past Makoto to follow the narrow alley’s path. Makoto fell gladly into a trot next to him as he took the lead to wherever he’d intended to go in the first place.

“But, you know, I still want to know what’s going on here.”

Makoto briefly turned to meet Sousuke’s quizzical look before he turned to shyly stare at the ground.

“I-I guess there’s no avoiding that, right?”

“Well, you got me pretty curious.”

\------

“Uh, how should I start?”

Makoto started to rub the back of his neck as he shot Sousuke a sideways glance. They were now sitting on a quiet little stairway Makoto had found them, between two houses with not a single person in sight.

Sousuke kept quiet as he waited for Makoto to continue. He watched him starting to wring his hands as he went on.

“I-It’s a little embarrassing. Y-You see, my parents they – Well, they’re super protective and clingy and tell me what to do like _all_ the time.” He sighed as he picked up a stone next to his hand on the steps and started to twist it absentmindedly in his fingers.

“And I just… Well, at some point I was done with putting up with their ‘Makoto, you need to do your studies’ and ‘Makoto, you need to get aware of your duties’ and ‘You’ll step in your father’s shoes one day, you always have to be aware of that’.” He sighed again and threw the stone away. It described a perfect arc before it clattered to the ground, a sad little sound in the otherwise quiet alley.

Sousuke watched Makoto’s brows draw together as if he was thinking of something before he turned to look at Sousuke.

“Well, but the actual problem is that I don’t even want to step in my father’s shoes. I want to make my own decisions and live my own life. Not that life my parents want for me.”

He turned back to stare at the steps in front of them. “So, sometimes when I can’t stand it any longer, I just need to escape everything at least for some time. So I keep going to the meadow we’ve first met on, or I simply wander the city on my own, going to all my secret places.” He spoke the last two words overly mysteriously, making them both smile.

“But eventually my parents got really annoyed with it. So when I went off on my own again, they actually send someone after me to get me back. By now, it’s become routine. They don’t get me, I go back on my own, listen to my parents rant pointlessly and then go off again. They won’t go as far as to lock me up, but the people looking for me keep getting more, so I need to be at least a little careful.”

Makoto just shrugged as he said so, a dismissive gesture. Then as it seemed like he wouldn’t say anything more, Sousuke asked, “So that’s why we needed to get away from that street? Because you spotted the guys who are searching for you?”

“Yeah.”

Makoto turned to look at him again, this time with his look uncertain as if he was expecting Sousuke to judge him.

“Well, okay, now I get it. But I don’t see why you don’t try to talk to your parents about it.”

Makoto gave a humorless laugh at that.

“If you knew my parents, you’d know that there’s no use in talking to them. They’re just so obsessed with tradition, there’s just no way for me breaking it by not stepping in my father’s shoes. No way.”

Sousuke kept quiet as he studied Makoto’s features. He clearly seemed to be troubled by the subject to say the least. But as he himself had never had any parents in that way, he couldn’t really give Makoto any helpful advice.

“Well, we could mess with them together.”

Makoto went from dead serious to confused. “Huh?”

Sousuke grinned at Makoto as he said in a conspiratorial voice, “What’s the point in messing with those guys all alone? I guess it’d be way more fun if we fooled them together. You know, playing tricks on them, making them look like idiots.”

Makoto’s eyes started to glitter as he bit his lower lip to keep himself from grinning. He just raised one eyebrow quizzically as he asked, “You mean it? You’re not making fun of me?”

Sousuke gasped in mock hurt which got Makoto to eventually break into a broad smile.

“Of course I mean it!” he added with a smile of his own.

“Y-You really are something.” Makoto’s smile got a bit wobbly around the edges as he turned to stare at the ground, a slight blush creeping up his neck.

Sousuke thought of it as plain adorable. Ah, wait, of course not adorable, but more like charming. Ugh, wait, definitely not charming. Oh well, he thought nothing of it, that’s it.

“But, you know, I’d really like that.”

Sousuke snapped out of his weird thoughts to look at Makoto. Even though his smile had turned soft now, the blush hadn’t disappeared anyway. Sousuke didn’t mind at all.

“Makoto and Sousuke, just the two of us against the world. Got a ring to it, don’t you think?” He wiggled his eyebrows at Makoto, making him laugh and push him by the shoulder.

“Now you’re exaggerating! It’s definitely not the whole world, but well.” He hugged his knees to his chest as he shot Sousuke a quick sideways glance. “But, ‘Sousuke and Makoto’? Mhm, got definitely a ring to it.”

The sudden increase of his heart rate was just him being excited about the whole ‘against the world’ part. Of course.

\------

“So, what do you have for me?”

After Ai and Momo had come back, Rin had led them somewhere where they could talk without interruption and being overheard by all the others. Now the two boys were standing in front of him, seemingly excited to report.

Like this, Momo started, “So, you see, we followed Sousuke all day, just like you told us. But he wasn’t alone! He was with a boy with light brown hair and green eyes! And we followed them around the whoooole city, hiding behind bushes and walls!” He started to hop around looking highly concentrated, and Rin guessed he was imitating their earlier hiding. “And the whole time they were like ‘Ahahaha!’ and then again like ‘This and that and this’ and then once again ‘Ahahaha!’.”

Rin blinked wordlessly at Momo and then turned to Ai, hoping he’d explain Momo’s incomprehensible gibberish.

“A-Ah, Momo means that they were talking and laughing a lot!” Ai hurried to say. “They really seemed to enjoy themselves.”

“Hm.” Rin’s eyes narrowed in consideration as he asked, “And what did they act like? Were they all touchy feely? Anyone making googly eyes?”

Momo and Ai both cocked their heads as if Rin had asked something completely unintelligible.

“Well?”

They looked at each other, their brows drawing together in confusion.

“Well,” Ai said at last. “We didn’t see anything like that. But they seemed to get along really well.”

“Pretty well,” Momo agreed, nodding approvingly.

“Oh, well.” Rin let out a sigh as he started to massage his temples. It seemed like there was no immediate danger ahead, regarding that Makoto, but Rin basically _knew_ that it wouldn’t stay like that. Sousuke might have said that he wasn’t stupid, but Rin wasn’t so sure about that.

“Alright, thanks. You can go now.”

Like this, Rin dismissed them, and as they were out of the door and out of earshot, Ai turned to look at Momo, wearing a concerned expression.

“You think it’s alright to not tell Rin that we actually ran into Sousuke?”

Momo started to rub the back of his neck as he said, “Well, I think, if we told him, he certainly wouldn’t be happy about it. And we neither. Soooo, no point in telling him, right?”

“If you put it that way,” Ai said, smiling wobbly.

“Hey you two, what are you up to?”

Both of them nearly jumped as Gou suddenly appeared next to them out of nowhere. But apparently she’d just asked so they’d notice her and not because she wanted to hear the answer since she had already walked past them, heading for the room Momo and Ai had just left.

“O-Oh, Gou, we were just – ” Both of them frantically started to fumble for words, but Gou just waved her hand dismissively at them. As she arrived at the door to the room, she stopped to turn around to them, smiling and winking conspiratorially as she brought two fingers up to her lips to zip them in one swift motion. Then she disappeared through the door.

“You know, I’d really like to know what’s going on,” Momo said, shooting Ai a look.

“Yeah, me too.”


	9. Wait and See

Rin was pacing the room, lost in thoughts, as Gou allowed herself in. He stopped as he heard her entering.

“What are you up to, Rin?”

Rin let out a sigh before he said, “Up to? I’m up to nothing.”

With a knowing smile, Gou closed the distance between them to lay one hand on Rin’s shoulder.

“You and I, we both know that’s not true.”

Rin tsked as he turned to stare at the ground. “I should stop trying to lie to you. It’s just no use.”

“Obviously. So I keep asking myself why you’d try it anyway.” Her smile grew fond as she let her hand slip off of Rin’s shoulder. “So? What kind of scheming would involve Ai and Momo following Sousuke’s every step?”

“There’s no ‘scheming’ here,” he said, his brows drawing together slightly. “I’m just worried about him that’s all. You’re worried too, aren’t you?”

“Don’t give me the worried-little-brother-act,” she said, narrowing her eyes at him. But after some beats of staring she turned to say, “Except it’s not an act. So, okay, I’m confused. What is there to worry about?”

“Well,” Rin sighed, placing his hands on his hips. “You do remember that affair with Persephone, right? …But then again, how could any of us forget about it? So, you see, I think that whole tragedy is about to repeat itself.”

Rin could watch Gou’s expression turn from confused to downright aghast.

“What are you implying?” she asked slowly.

“I’m implying that Sousuke is about to fall in love with a human. _Again_. I think so ‘cause I’ve seen him talk about that boy. He himself might not be aware of it yet, but that look in his eyes was everything it needed to make _me_ very aware of it.”

While listening to Rin, Gou had caught her lower lip between her teeth and then had started to worry it. Now she released it to say, “I hope that at least this time none of this boy’s parents is a god. Or like in Persephone’s case, a goddess. That caused enough problems back then.” Gou gave a heavy sigh as she clearly remembered what had happened some time ago. “Just who is he anyway?”

“I have no idea. The only thing I know is that his name is Makoto.”

“Makoto…” Gou stared at him as if she was thinking hard. “There’s no human with such a name who’d spontaneously come to my mind. I guess that’s a good sign.” A hopeless little smile started to form on her lips as she shook her head and said, “Maybe Sousuke’ll even get happy this time.”

“Maybe.”

Both of them kept silent for a long moment before Gou eventually broke the silence. “Well, and what should we do now?”

“If the goddess of wisdom doesn’t know, how should I?”

“Then, what?” she sighed. “Wait and see?”

“Well, if anything better comes to my mind, you’ll be the first one to know.”

\------

The sun had already started to set as Sousuke and Makoto eventually sat down on a bench, finished with their trip through the city.

They went to the market Makoto had mentioned earlier, but as it turned out, it wasn’t the market Sousuke had found the first time he’d visited Iwatobi, where he’d first seen Makoto. It was by far larger and apparently the center of the city. Makoto had shown him the palace of the royal family from afar. He’d shown him some of his ‘secret places’. Well, you could say Sousuke’d seen quite a lot this day.

So he was happy to just sit down now with nothing to do but watch the sun being swallowed by the sea. It was quite the picture with the water glittering so brightly that Sousuke actually needed to avert his gaze after some time.

They’d sat in companionable silence for some time, enjoying the view together as Makoto suddenly said, “I’m sorry that you couldn’t see the harbour.”

“Huh?” The words caught him off guard and as Sousuke turned to look at Makoto, he wore an apologetic smile.

“Even though you wanted to see it, I didn’t go with you. And that’s just because I – ” He gave a sigh as he started to rub the back of his neck.

“Ah, no, it’s alright. I’m totally fine with it. You don’t have to tell me anything if you’re not comfortable with.”

“No, it’s fine. I’m sorry I didn’t already mention it earlier,” he mumbled as he shot Sousuke a look. “So, I said I wasn’t too fond of the harbour, remember? Well, when I was a small child I used to love the harbour. I loved watching the ships come and go and I used to look if there had arrived new ones every day. But on one day, I can’t remember why, I fell into the water without knowing how to swim. It was horrible. I was sure that I’d die, that I’d drown. But I didn’t, I was saved by someone, probably a sailor or so, but I actually never found out who exactly that someone was. My parents said that Poseidon must’ve had mercy on me. Well, of course I don’t know exactly what happened. The only thing I can tell for sure is that since that day I’ve been avoiding the harbour and thanking Poseidon that I didn’t die in his realm.”

As Makoto kept talking, his gaze had become distant, fixing something that was possibly only visible to himself. Without registering what he was doing, Sousuke found himself taking Makoto’s hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze.

At that, Makoto’s gaze snapped back to the present as he turned to look at Sousuke. Only then did he realize that it was probably really weird for him to take Makoto’s hand like this. So he was about to let go of it as he was suddenly met with such a fond smile that it made him forget about anything that he’d probably wanted to do or say.

Makoto didn’t take his hand away as he said, “I thought that you should know after I’ve acted so weird today.”

“Nah, like I said, it was alright. There was really no need to feel like you needed to tell me,” Sousuke murmured quietly.

“But I wanted to.”

As Sousuke turned to look at Makoto in surprise, he found him watching Sousuke closely. They held each other’s gaze for a long moment that made Sousuke’s heart beat faster. But Makoto eventually turned to look at their hands. Sousuke could see a blush starting to bloom on his face as Makoto suddenly laced their fingers together while saying, “I-I don’t know why, but I feel like I could tell you everything.”

Now Sousuke felt like his heart was beating impossibly fast, probably loud enough for even Makoto to hear. Where their fingers were laced together, his skin felt like it was burning. But more importantly, he felt like leaning in, closing the distance between them to –

Before his brain would come up with something really stupid, he stammered, “I-I, well, I feel honored.”

His words apparently broke the tension that had lingered between them since Makoto had to laugh at them. The laughter that rang in his ears was bright and genuine, and it felt like it was warming Sousuke from the inside.

They once again fell back into silence before Makoto said, “I should probably go home now. It’s getting relatively late.”

The sun had indeed already disappeared behind the wide expand of the sea. So Makoto was probably right. “I guess you’re right. We don’t want your parents to get angrier than necessary.”

Makoto huffed out a laugh as they both got up from the bench, their fingers laced together some more moments before they eventually let go of each other’s hand.

“So,” Sousuke started, rocking back and forth on his heels. “You got any plans for tomorrow?”

“Not really,” Makoto said, grinning at Sousuke.

“Then, meet again? Tomorrow? Maybe here?”

“Sounds great!” Makoto’s face lit up with a huge smile as if he was already excited for the next day.

“Alright! Well then, see you to- ”

“Ah, Sousuke, can I ask you one more thing?”

Sousuke was momentarily caught off guard but quickly turned to say, “S-Sure. What is it?”

“Well, I’ve been wondering who those two boys we met earlier were. You seemed like you knew each other.”

“Uhm.”

He’d secretly hoped that Makoto had maybe just forgotten about that little incident earlier, that maybe he’d been too busy thinking about how to get away from his persecutors to mind Ai and Momo. Well, think again.

“Well, Ai and Momo, they’re friends of mine. But I was a little irritated to see them ‘cause I thought that my little brother sent them after me to keep an eye on me since he’s always super worried about me, I don’t know,” he said, shrugging slightly. It was, technically speaking, not even a lie.

“But I thought you – Well, never mind,” Makoto said, cocking his head slightly. “Well then, see you tomorrow Sousuke!”

“Y-Yeah, see you tomorrow Makoto.”

He watched Makoto waving him goodbye as he left, and eventually Sousuke turned to leave as well, shooting one last look back at Makoto.

Oh well, he guessed that he needed to go back to the underworld now, looking if everything was still in order. After all, when the cat’s away, the mice will play.

But then, he once again had to think of Makoto’s and his fingers laced together and of the sudden increase of his heartbeat. He felt himself blush as he thought about how he’d nearly, _nearly_ … Nah, nearly nothing. He’d done nothing, nothing at all.

After all, he wasn’t stupid, Rin had been wrong about that. Well, that’s at least what he kept telling himself.


	10. Oh, Whatever

When Sousuke was with Makoto, time apparently flew, but if he wasn’t with Makoto, it seemed as if time was going by impossibly slowly. Such a strong sense of time was something Sousuke first had to acquaint himself with since immortality had actually taken his track of time ages and ages ago.

By now, it had become his routine to meet Makoto nearly every day and to go back to the underworld by night. Things were working pretty well like this.

So when he was all alone in the underworld again after spending the whole day with Makoto, he actually didn’t feel lonely any longer. Well, technically speaking, he’d never really been alone, Cerberus had always kept him company, but he didn’t _feel_ lonely anymore. He didn’t feel like he’d go insane at any moment, he didn’t feel like the air around him would suffocate him if he dared to inhale too deeply. Not anymore. What he felt instead was happiness. Yeah, he actually felt _happy_.

It had been a long time since he’d last felt like this. To be precise, he hadn’t felt like this since Persephone. Persephone had made him happy, she’d loved him and had been willing to give him her all. But the happiness with Persephone had always been clouded by the fact that it wasn’t meant to be.

It hadn’t even been the fact that Persephone was a human, it was because Persephone had been the daughter of Amakata, the goddess of harvest and fertility of the earth, basically the goddess of _life_. And Amakata had loathed him, she’d always loathed him and probably would always loathe him. After all Sousuke was the god of _death_. Everything she created, every life she gave – he took it. There was just no way for them to get along.

So he’d learned the hard way that not even love was stronger than the god’s nature. So the relationship between him and Persephone had been doomed from the very beginning to the very point Amakata had put an end to it.

And now here he was, happy after thinking he’d never become happy again. It seemed as if life was still full of surprises for him. And boy had Makoto been a surprise.

If he had to be honest, he had to admit that Makoto had only caught his attention because of his eyes. When he first caught a glimpse at them on the market, he’d been sure they looked exactly like Persephone’s eyes. Sousuke guessed that he still hadn’t been able to get over that stunning emerald green, otherwise he couldn’t explain the feeling to just _need_ to take a closer look at that boy, to make sure he hadn’t been imagining things. Well, and ‘only his eyes’ had turned into ‘his everything’ at the very moment Makoto had first smiled at him.

But at some point Sousuke couldn’t help but ask Makoto about his eyes nevertheless. He’d brought it up in a casual tone, asking Makoto whether such green eyes as his were running in his family or if his pair was a unique thing.

_“Why would you want to know something like that?”_ he’d asked, huffing out a laugh.

_“Uhm, ‘cause they’re incredibly beautiful.”_

Yeah he’d come up with a cheesy line like that, ugh. But the worst hadn’t even been the ‘cheesy’ part but the fact that it hadn’t even been a line. But in his defense, Makoto’s eyes _were_ incredibly beautiful, mind you. Well, he’d had his fair share of blushing afterwards anyway.

As it turned out, the emerald eyes were really running in Makoto’s family. He’d inherited them from his mother, and she in turn from her mother. As Sousuke’d heard so, he couldn’t help but wonder if Makoto might be related to Persephone by any chance. Well, that thought wasn’t completely pulled out of thin air because both, Makoto’s and Persephone’s eyes were remarkable. And Sousuke’d lived long enough to be able to judge whether a pair of eyes was remarkable or not. But in the end he’d quickly turned to dismiss that chain of thoughts. After all, there was just no coincidence in this world big enough to make Makoto a descendant of Persephone.

And after all, Makoto was nothing like Persephone. Where Persephone had been reserved and smiling shyly, Makoto would smart mouth him and give him a smug smile. Speaking of smiling: Makoto seemed like his smile would never falter, (at least _almost_ never). And like that, he’d already shown Sousuke an impossibly wide range of his smiles: broad smiles, bashful smiles, sly smiles, fond smiles, amused smiles… There was just no end to it. He could possibly go on about it forever since he just _loved_ the way Makoto smiled. Uh, wait. Not really _loved_ -loved but… Well, this was yet another problem Sousuke needed to get a grip on.

If Sousuke had to pinpoint the relationship between them, he’d probably fail to do so. But what he could say for sure was that he and Makoto had become close friends. To say the least. But then again… He wasn’t entirely sure if their relationship could be called a mere friendship. There were moments that made him wonder: when his heart seemed to be beating too fast in his chest, when he’d blush at stupidly simple things, when they were just staring at each other with Sousuke forgetting the world around them… When they’d held each other’s hand… Well, it was a long list.

And it made Sousuke question his feelings for Makoto. Sure, he’d thought about it before, but he’d always shied away from calling it ‘love’. Not that he didn’t know what love was, rather the opposite. He’d loved Persephone back then, but upon losing her, he’d felt like he’d fall apart. So, what _if_ he’d lost his heart again? What _if_ he’d lost it to a human again?

What if he’d lost it to Makoto?

The problem was he didn’t know the answers to those ‘what ifs’. The plain and simple truth was he didn’t know what to do.

Sure, he could stay away from Makoto. Play save to guarantee he wouldn’t fall apart again. But he already knew that he wouldn’t get happy like that. But knowing so didn’t make things any easier. The other option would be to do nothing and just see what would happen. But what _could_ actually happen? Well, they could stay like this, could stay close friends with nothing to worry about (if one precluded the thing with Makoto’s parents). Or, what Sousuke didn’t like to think about too much, they could actually…fall in love with each other. If this wasn’t already the case. Ah, no, he really shouldn’t think about it.

Rin had tried to warn him. But Sousuke, of course, had laughed it off, telling his brother and himself that he wasn’t stupid, that he knew what he did. Oh, well. If it had been the truth he certainly wouldn’t be wracking his brain now, trying to figure out what the hell he should do. He was just such a huge idiot, seriously.

Well, and one day, he proved that theory absolutely right.

It hadn’t been any special day at all. They’d been in Iwatobi like any other day, joking around as Makoto’d suddenly spotted three of his persecutors coming their way at a rather fast pace. They’d made a break for the next side street to get rid of them, but this time it hadn’t been that easy. Things had quickly turned into a little pursuit before they had been able to shake the men off.

They’d been pressed against the wall of a tall house, holding their breaths as they’d heard the men stomping by, storming off into another side street.

Both of them had exhaled deeply as the men were gone, sliding down the wall as they’d tried to catch their breath. Then, after some moments of heavy breathing, they’d turned to look at each other. Sousuke’d watched Makoto’s face light up with a huge grin, making a smile tug at the corners of his own lips. Then they’d both burst out laughing, barely able to keep themselves from doubling over.

And, well, it’d probably been the adrenaline still pulsing in his veins or the sheer amount of relief that they hadn’t been caught, he couldn’t tell for sure. But as he’d turned to look at Makoto again, he’d been watching Sousuke with an expression that apparently made his brain short-circuit. Because the next thing he’d known was that he’d leaned over and was now kissing Makoto. But before he could’ve drawn back and started to apologize, Makoto’d turned to kiss him back. And _that_ was the moment his brain had seriously short-circuited.

The only thought that’d come across his mind at that moment had been ‘Oh, whatever’ before he’d turned to thread his fingers into Makoto’s hair to pull him even closer.


	11. What To Do Without You?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I'm still alive! Haha ^^'
> 
> So, I'm so sorry about the long wait, but I have to admit that I've run a little out of steam regarding this story.. So I didn't want to continue it with halfhearted feelings. But now I'm back and definitely willing to finish it! ;3

As Haru opened his eyes, he watched the fish slowly making their way through the large throne room, sometimes seeming as if they were hanging motionlessly in the water. He inhaled deeply, enjoying the pleasant cold of the water now filling his lungs.

Every day it was the same. Him being all alone in this huge palace, the only thing ever changing being the flow of the water and the sea dwellers it would bring with it.

But he liked it. He liked this steady rhythm of the sea, this utterly beautiful solitude of his home which was the sea. But it wasn't like he didn't know what was going on in the human world. Rather the opposite. After all, he was next to his brother Rin one of the most important gods to the humans.

So they prayed and talked to him, and he enjoyed listening to them. Like fragile bubbles in the water, the voices of the humans were carried to his ear, bearing their prayers, their praise, their wishes. And he'd always listened to what they had to tell him.

But listening to them didn't mean acting on them. Sure, he'd interacted with humans over the ages, fulfilling his duties as a god, but in the end he'd always preferred staying in his realm, letting the human life go on by itself. After all, the humans were doing just fine without him.

Well. Most of them.

He remembers clearly that one boy he’d saved from drowning. That one special boy he’d always been looking after. Which usually wasn't his style. But, like he'd already mentioned, that boy was special. A special inhabitant of a city which had just lately made Haru its patron.

So, you see, it wasn't unusual for humans to pick a patron for their city, choosing one of the many gods they knew and worshipped. And it wasn't unusual for Haru to be one of them. To be precise, it was relatively common for cities by the sea to choose him as their patron.

And lately, there’d been this one city, relatively young for it was built only some centuries ago, which chose him as its patron. It was called Iwatobi and had grabbed his attention like all cities did when they made him their patron.

So, in the beginning he watched how things were going, how the different generations of the royal family reigned and acted, where the city was headed to. And after being sure that things were headed the right way, he’d leave the city to take care of itself. That was how it had always been with the cities choosing him as their patron. But Iwatobi had managed to keep his attention. Or rather, an offspring of the royal family had managed to keep his attention.

That boy had been, no, he still _was_ so different from all humans Haru had ever taken a closer look at, and that had been the reason why he'd interfered with the boy’s fate and had saved him from death. After that, the boy had started to come to Haru’s temple on a regular basis, praying to him, thanking him for saving his life, or just talking to him even though he knew he wouldn't get an answer.

And Haru would always, always listen to him.

Years went by, and Haru watched the boy turning from a child into a young man. And even though the boy grew, there were things that never changed about him: his ever present smile, his shining emerald eyes, his kind personality. Haru thought of him as perfect.

So, sometimes he'd just sit on his throne, absolutely still, listening whether he'd hear the boy's voice or not. Actually, Haru was always looking forward to the boy's next visit to his temple.

But lately, the boy’s visits had become more irregular up to the point that he hadn't come to the temple for a long period of time. Haru had seriously started to worry about him. But then, his temple was visited by the boy's parents:

“Oh, great Poseidon,” the queen of Iwatobi began, her voice sounding desperate as it was resounding in the water. “We don't know what to do anymore.”

“It is about our oldest son Makoto.” Now it was the king's voice drifting through the water. “From his very birth it has been clear that he'd become the next ruler of Iwatobi. But, oh great Poseidon, how could we make him a ruler when he shows absolutely no interest in ruling?”

“We've already tried everything,” the queen said in a sad tone of voice. “When he wouldn’t want to study or learn from his father how to be a good king, we thought that it was just a thing that would go by. But, great Poseidon, it doesn't go by. He'd stay away from the palace the whole day, he just wouldn't come home. We've even become so desperate to send guards after him to bring him back."

"But, great Poseidon, we wouldn't bother you with our mundane problems if it wasn't absolutely necessary. You see, it has become worse. We barely see him anymore, we have absolutely no idea what's going on in that boy's head. The only thing we know from our guards is that he's apparently always with another man."

“Another man!” the queen repeated. “We know nothing about that man! What does he want from our Makoto? What if he'll do something to our Makoto? What if he's using our Makoto because he’s lusting for the throne? Oh great Poseidon, we’re at our wits’ end! We beg you! Please, bring our son back to us!"

Haru had listened to the royal couple in absolute silence, his face an unreadable mask. Upon the queen’s last desperate plea he'd slowly stood up, his gaze seemingly drilling holes into the opposite wall of the hall.

He felt his hands unintentionally curling into fists, his jaw set.

So, there was a man who kept Makoto from living his life like he should to, who was a potential danger to his life? Well, the queen shouldn't worry. He'd bring their son back. He'd bring Makoto back, and then he'd visit Haru's temple again, and he would -

Well, things would just turn back to being _normal_ again.

\------

Sousuke was fucked. Oh, he was so fucked.

He’d known the moment he’d pulled away from Makoto after their kiss, looking into his still half lidded eyes, that he was royally fucked. And that was because Sousuke’d realized something. Something very essential.

So, he’d taken a step back, avoiding Makoto’s now quizzical eyes. He’d started to stammer something unintelligible before he made up some lame excuses why he had to go _right now_. Makoto had opened his mouth to say something, but Sousuke had cut him off with a curt ‘See you’ before he basically fled the scene.

Now he was sitting all alone on his throne in the underworld, his face buried in his hands. And he felt just horrible.

Why? You see, if he’d tried to avoid thinking about Makoto and himself in _that_ way before, realization hit him now like a brick. It hit and it hurt.

So, the moment he kissed Makoto, the moment everything had felt so amazing and just so _right_ , Sousuke had realized that he wouldn’t be able to get happy without Makoto. Not anymore.

But the problem was… In comparison to eternity, the time he and Makoto had together was short. Like, pretty damn short. After all, Makoto was a human, and Sousuke knew best that all humans died, no matter how much one prayed for them to live.

Back then with Persephone he’d felt differently. With Persephone he’d known from the very start, even though it had been only subconsciously, that they wouldn’t last. He’d denied it until he was forced to realize it. But after he’d lost Persephone, he’d been able to tell himself ‘ _You weren’t meant to be. She’s a human after all. So, what could you’ve given to her?'_. Those thoughts helped him to not entirely fall apart.

But with Makoto… With Makoto he could actually get happy, hell he was already happy. There was no Amakata to doom their relationship from the very beginning, no god’s aesthetics to get hurt. Just Makoto and him.

But it wouldn’t stay like this. Makoto would grow old with Sousuke not changing a single bit. Yeah, and explaining that would be real fun: ‘ _So, about the not aging thing: I’m the god of the underworld, just by the way. You might know me as Hades_.’ Right. Like he could ever do that.

But it’s not like he hadn’t had the option to stop this. This ever present thing going on between him and Makoto, he could’ve stopped it. All it would’ve taken was him to just walk away, to not turn back. Maybe go back to the underworld for some decades. He would’ve never seen Makoto again.

But he hadn’t. He hadn’t left Makoto, he hadn’t wanted to, probably even couldn’t. Makoto had given him the happiness he’d been craving for so long. Despite being the god of death, he’d finally felt _alive_ again. He just couldn’t walk away from that.

And now, here he was, alone, feeling horrible, fearing the inevitable loss of Makoto which would break Sousuke into pieces.

He just knew that without Makoto… God, he just knew that he’d fall apart this time.

Sousuke dragged the back of his hand over his eyes, wiping away the tears that threatened to roll down his cheeks.

For heaven’s sake, he just didn’t know what to do.


	12. I Owe You At Least That Much

Sousuke closed his eyes and inhaled deeply before hesitantly entering the grove with the meadow where he'd first talked to Makoto.

So, he'd finally made up his mind. Sure, it had been anything but easy, he'd even needed _days_ to make this decision. ...Oh, who was he kidding? He'd needed that long because he was afraid of talking to Makoto. Sousuke couldn't even bear the _idea_ of looking him in the eye after he’d left him like that the other day. And he definitely didn't want to imagine Makoto's reaction when he'd tell him that –

Once again he swallowed heavily, trying to shoo the inevitable words away that made him feel sick.

He'd searched the whole city for Makoto by checking out all of his secret places. Well, Sousuke’d basically been to _all_ places Makoto had shown him, and yet he couldn't find him anywhere. He felt a twinge of guilt for thinking of it as a relief. Sure, not talking to Makoto was easier than talking to him. But he knew that he was just delaying things like this. He needed to talk to Makoto. Sousuke owed him at least that much.

So after his unsuccessful search of the city, he thought that there was only one place left where he could find Makoto. And that was the meadow in the grove.

Now, on his way through the grove, he felt his hands getting sweaty and the strong urge to just turn tail and run.

But, he told himself, he could do this. After all he was a freaking _god_ , there were few things in this world he couldn't do. 

And yet talking to Makoto seemed like one of those things.

Lost in his thoughts, he'd nearly walked by the meadow, but there it was with its bright green grass and its beautiful white flowers. And there he was, the most beautiful human he'd ever laid his eyes on.

Sousuke took a deep calming breath. There was no turning back now, he'd just walk over and – 

"Sousuke!"

Makoto had stood up, and Sousuke wondered if he actually looked relieved or if he was just imagining things. Either way, Sousuke felt horrible about his earlier relief whenever he hadn’t had to talk to Makoto just yet. But there wasn’t much time for remorse since Makoto was already coming his way.

That was the moment Sousuke forced his feet to move as well.

They met each other halfway, and Sousuke felt like he could lose himself right then and there in Makoto's eyes, but he knew he shouldn't do so.

Makoto started to hesitantly reach out for him, but before he touched Sousuke's face he drew his hand back as if he wasn't sure whether or not he was allowed to touch him.

"God, Sousuke, I'm so relieved to see you," Makoto started, a nervous smile starting to form on his face.

"I was afraid that maybe you were gone, that maybe it had something to do with your brother or something else. Or – Or maybe that I had done something wrong when – “

"Makoto, don't," Sousuke finally managed to say, feeling like his voice would break at any moment. Then, as if on cue, he felt light droplets falling onto his hair, and he couldn't help but wonder if this was Rin's way of telling him that he'd known something like this would happen. By letting it start to rain. Sousuke knew that Rin liked to play pranks, but this was just cruel.

He watched Makoto turn silent, his eyes fixed on Sousuke’s.

"What do you …" Makoto let the question trail off, and Sousuke just _knew_ that he needed to say something, that Makoto was waiting for him to say something.

"I – ," Sousuke started, but he felt like he couldn't go on. After some moments of silence, in which he felt himself getting slowly soaked by the rain, that had started to get stronger, he turned to stare at the ground as he said, "Makoto, I – W-We can't do this. I can't do this. I am – “ He swallowed thickly before finally saying, “I can't see you again."

He kept on staring at the ground, watching the flowers bobbing their heads with the fall of the rain. He looked anywhere but at Makoto's face. Until he heard his voice.

"But, you – I mean, I thought you – You and I, I-I thought that meant something to you. So, why would you – " Sousuke heard Makoto's voice break and his own heart right along with it.

"I can't see you again," Sousuke repeated hopelessly, at a loss for better words. And to top it all, he knew nothing better to say than "I'm sorry."

"But why?" Makoto's voice was thin, maybe even pitched a little higher than usual. His wet bangs were clinging to his forehead, and he turned to wipe them away with a shaky hand. He looked like his world was falling apart.

Sousuke felt like the biggest asshole to ever walk the earth, like he'd never deserved Makoto to begin with.

"Y-You wouldn't understand," Sousuke managed to say.

He could deal with Makoto hating him for leaving him like this. But he just couldn’t bear the idea of Makoto hating him because he’d found out just who Sousuke really was. So he couldn't tell Makoto the truth.

“Then make me understand!” Makoto said, raising his voice, seeming as if he was getting angry now.

After some beats of silence, Sousuke said, “We should get out of the rain, or else you'll catch – " He tried to somehow change the topic, but Makoto had none of it.

"What, a cold? You know what? Fuck the rain! Really!” Makoto took a step closer, his anger now clearly audible in his voice. “The past days I've been wrecking my brain, trying to figure out why you'd gone away or where you'd gone, but then I realized that there was no way for me to find out 'cause I basically know nothing about you Sousuke! So, no, I don't understand! I won't be able to understand you unless you'll talk to me! God, Sousuke, are you even listening to me??"

He was listening, he'd listened to every single word, but there, right some feet behind Makoto, the rain had started to mass and was now beginning to take on a form. Whatever it was, Sousuke didn't feel anything good about it.

“Makoto, I think we should – “

“ _I_ think we should talk, but you're clearly – “

“Makoto, oldest son of the royal family, future king of Iwatobi, we were sent by our master to securely accompany you to the palace and back to your parents.”

A smooth cold voice, sharp like a knife, ringing like the sound of water, echoed through the rain.

The droplets had taken on their final shape so that there were now two large men standing behind Makoto. Their bodies were several shades of blue, translucent water that seemed as if it was in motion.

Sousuke's eyes jumped between the creatures and Makoto, who had whipped around to make out the source of the voice.

Sousuke felt paralyzed. Those creatures were clearly created by the hand of a god, but Sousuke didn't know by _which_ god. And he didn't know what they wanted from Makoto, what they'd do to him. Yet their words were playing over and over in his head: _Oldest son of the royal family, future king of Iwatobi_. Those creatures must’ve been mistaken, there was no way that Makoto… But then again, could Sousuke really know? 

He suddenly started to feel dizzy.

Makoto backed away from the creatures as he asked, "Who are you? No, _what_ are you? What do you want from me?"

“We are here to fulfill our master's orders.” One of the creatures took a step forward, reaching out for Makoto, and that was the moment Sousuke finally snapped out of his paralysis.

"Don't you dare lay a finger on him," he snarled, stepping protectively in front of Makoto. "What do you want here? Do you even know who I am?"

"We know who you are," the creature now in front of Sousuke said. "We've heard enough of your conversation to be sure that you are the man endangering the prince’s predestined life. And it is our order to take care of you once the opportunity arises."

Like this, the other creature, which had remained silent up to now, started to move at such a lightning speed that it was even hard for Sousuke to follow its motions.

The next thing he knew, he felt a sharp pain erupting in his left shoulder, close to his heart, and then he heard Makoto’s earsplitting cry as he sank to the ground.

"SOUSUKE!!!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Damn, Drama, how did you get in here? Geez, I told you, you weren’t invited to the party.


	13. Not Who You Think I Am

_Haru had made up his mind. He knew exactly what to do._

_After he’d first listened to the royal couple’s prayer, he’d needed some moments to calm himself. His thoughts had been racing, a swirl of anger, confusion and even a little fear. Pictures of Makoto leaving Iwatobi with that man, pictures of Makoto dying by that man’s hand had been swirling through his mind. But now he’d gotten a grip on himself._

_He’d make sure that nothing would happen to Makoto, that he’d stay where he belonged and that his life would go back to how it should be. Haru would never let anything happen to Makoto._

_With a swift motion of his hand the water in front of him started to swirl, taking on the shape of two large human bodies. As the creatures eventually stood at their full height in front of him, the fish suddenly started to give them a wide berth, taking off to the other end of the hall._

_“Master,” the creatures said, their voices resembling the sound of gurgling water._

_“I’ve got something for you,” Haru said as he took a step closer. “Listen carefully: I want you to go to the realm of the mortals and find a human boy for me. I’ll grant you an insight in a memory of mine so you’ll know whom I’m talking about.”_

_Haru let a picture of Makoto appear in the creatures mind’s, giving them a moment to memorize his appearance._

_“Now listen: This boy’s name is Makoto, and he’s the prince of Iwatobi. So you’ll look_ everywhere _for him. In every house, on every street, you’ll check every place even remotely close to this city. After you’ve found him, you’ll accompany him back to the palace and back to his parents. But without the use of_ any _violence! If you so much as lay a finger on him, I’ll make sure you’ll become a part of the Styx, understood?”_

_“Yes, master.”_

_“Fine. But there’s one more thing: There is a man seemingly really close to Makoto. When you find Makoto, you’re likely to find that man as well. And I want you to take care of him since he’s endangering Makoto’s predestined life. So, as soon as the opportunity arises, you’ll kill that man. But before doing so, you’ll make sure that it’s said man. I don’t want you to step into action before you’re absolutely positive that it’s that man, understood?”_

_“Yes, master.”_

_Haru sighed. He wondered if creatures lacking an own will, just following their master’s orders, were able to fulfill a task like this. But then again, if they’d kill the wrong man, who’d care? After all, one human more or less in this world, what would it change? They’d just have to keep on searching for the right man, nothing else._

_“Oh, and when you’ve found him, try to not kill him right in front of Makoto’s eyes. Now go.”_

_Like this, Haru watched the creatures dissolve into water again. They’d now go to the human world and take care of this situation._

_There was no longer anything to worry about._

\------

If Sousuke had been a human, he’d be dead now. So, for only once it seemed as if immortality had its perks after all.

But being immortal only meant that he couldn't die not that he didn't feel anything at all.

Sousuke breathed heavily as waves of excruciating pain seared through his body, feeling as if his shoulder was burning him from the inside. He clutched at it frantically even though he knew that the wound was already healing, that there wouldn't be the slightest scratch left in a few moments.

Still, the very real pain was unbearable, and it made the world blur in front of his eyes.

Through this haze, he could distantly hear Makoto shouting his name, almost unintelligible over the roaring sound of blood rushing through his ears. He grit his teeth as he tried to push himself up, still very aware of the fact that it wasn't him who was in danger but Makoto.

But he suddenly felt a pair of strong hands holding him down, and as he looked up, his vision finally clearing, he looked into Makoto's eyes.

Makoto's emotions lay bare in them, stripped from the earlier anger and now replaced with fear and utter shock. Their beautiful emerald green turned watery as they started to fill with tears. Sousuke could hear him trying his level best to keep himself from sobbing as he said in a strained voice, "D-Don't move, Sousuke. You're going to be alright. P-Please, just - " A strangled sob cut him off, tears starting to roll down his cheeks.

"Makoto," Sousuke managed as the pain finally started to fade away. Now, he'd be as good as new in a matter of moments. "I'm alright."

"We were told to not lay a finger on you," the creature's voice cut through the air, "but as you seem unwilling to help us fulfill our master's orders, we’re forced to _make_ you come with us."

Sousuke was instantly alarmed by the words. Finally he was able to muster up the strength to push himself up to step in front of Makoto once more.

"N-No, I - " Makoto sobbed. "Sousuke, please, stay down. O-Or else they'll - They'll kill you." 

It made Sousuke's heart ache to see Makoto crying like this. Crying because of him.

"Makoto, it’s okay," he tried to hush him. Sousuke didn't dare taking his eyes off of the creatures in front of them, fearing that they might attack them again at any moment. But the creatures seemed as if they were taken aback for a short moment, seeing Sousuke standing up again after taking such a fatal strike.

"It's okay," he repeated once more before grinding out, "They can't kill me."

He watched one of the creatures tilting its head, a swift motion of flowing water. Then its voice stung in Sousuke's ears again.

"You humans are a cocky, narrow-minded race if you are assuming that you are invulnerable. You’re trying to ignore death’s existence by covering your eyes and chanting 'If I can't see it, it isn't there'. You're acting like stupid children trying to shoo away the fact that you are _made_ to die."

The words send chills down Sousuke's spine, and he wondered just what kind of cruel creation those creatures were. He wondered who’d create something that was as cold and as determined to kill as those creatures.

Suddenly the creatures attacked at lightning speed again, both of them this time. But Sousuke was prepared now. He brought his hands up, his palms open, facing the creatures. Like this, they stopped mid-motion, their bodies caught, not able to move the slightest bit.

Sousuke held them like this for a moment, inhaling and exhaling deeply before mumbling, "You’re mostly right except for the fact that _I’m_ very aware of death’s existence."

Like this, he abruptly curled his hands into fists, crushing the creatures’ bodies in a matter of an instant. Then he unfurled his hands once again, letting his arms fall back to his sides. Like that, the now lifeless water crashed to the ground, the sound of it too loud in the otherwise quiet grove.

Sousuke heaved a strangled sigh as he let his eyes fall shut. A shudder rippled through his body, and he couldn’t tell for sure if it was caused by the adrenaline still rushing through his veins or if it was because he was soaking wet from the rain. Or maybe he was just afraid of needing to talk to Makoto about this whole situation now. Which would be exactly what he’d been trying to avoid earlier.

He suddenly felt a light touch on his left shoulder. He opened his eyes to the picture of Makoto’s fingers ghosting over the exposed skin where the creature’s stab had ripped a hole into his clothing. Where he should be bleeding like a normal human would. But there wasn’t a single droplet of blood to be found, no gaping wound marring his body. There was nothing of the attack left but a horrible memory.

“Y-You defeated those creatures without touching them,” Makoto said, staring blankly at Sousuke before turning to stare at his shoulder. “A-And you’re not hurt. You’re not even bleeding.”

Makoto drew his hand back, bringing it up to rub over his reddened, still slightly teary eyes. He let out a shuddering breath before saying, “B-But there’s no way – I-I mean I _saw_ \- God, I saw how you were attacked by those creatures. I saw it! Yet there’s not even a scratch on your shoulder. I-I must be imagining things.”

Makoto let out a humorless laugh, casting a shaky hand through his wet hair. He looked at Sousuke as if he’d just seen a ghost. But no wonder. He’d just seen worse.

Now, there was no way for Sousuke to keep quiet. He just needed to say something or else Makoto might start to doubt his own eyes, maybe even his own sanity. So Sousuke took Makoto’s cold, shaky hands into his own and squeezed them reassuringly.

“You’re not imagining things,” he said. “I was stabbed, but I’m unharmed nevertheless. That’s because I’m – Makoto, I-I’m not who you think I am.”

“Sousuke, what…” Makoto let the sentence trail off, seemingly at a loss for words. He just stared at Sousuke with big eyes, his mouth hanging slightly open as if any further words had died on his lips.

“Y-You see, I can’t get hurt because I’m immortal. I am what you humans deify so much. I am – ” He shut his eyes, inhaling deeply before finally saying, “Makoto, I’m a god.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And the cat's out of the bag


	14. Hold On Tight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm very busy at the moment, so I'm barely able to continue working on this fic. And I feel so horrible for leaving you guys hanging for so long before I'm finally able to upload a new chapter! q.q  
> But anyway, I finally got this one done, so I hope you'll enjoy it!

"You - What?"

Sousuke saw how Makoto's face fell as he kept on staring blankly at Sousuke. There were some awful beats of silence before Makoto eventually found his voice again, his words barely above a whisper.

"I'm sorry, but what did you say? I'm afraid I didn't understand."

Sousuke swallowed hard. It broke his heart to see Makoto like this, with his hands shaking even though Sousuke held them and his eyes clouded and uncertain, searching for an answer to this whole confusion in Sousuke's eyes.

"I'm a god," Sousuke whispered again, casting his eyes to the ground. His mouth went dry as he added, "I wasn’t able to tell you this earlier. I'm sorry."

"You are a god," Makoto slowly repeated, seeming as if he still wasn't sure if he'd heard right. But Sousuke could see how Makoto eventually realized just what those words said, what they _meant_. His eyes went wide, even wider than before, and Sousuke could see Makoto's lips starting to tremble as he repeated, "You are a god."

That was the moment when Makoto's knees gave in, and he sank onto the wet grass of the meadow right in front of Sousuke's eyes. Sousuke felt panic starting to clutch at his chest, and all he could do was holding on onto Makoto's hands and sinking to the ground as well. 

"A god," Makoto whispered, repeating the word like a mantra, his voice breathless. "But you - But how can you be a god? How is this possible? I-I don't understand."

"Makoto," Sousuke started, not sure of what he should say. "We gods, we're... We're not like the humans expect us to be. We're not flawless, and in many aspects we're very much like humans."

"But a god I mean - A god wouldn't - " Makoto stared at the ground as if it would hold the answers to his questions. "How can you be a god?"

"Makoto I'm - "

"No, I mean how can _you_ be a god? Why you? You of all people." Makoto's voice went thin at the end, followed by a strangled sob. As he looked up to meet Sousuke's gaze, his eyes were once again filled with tears. "How can you be a god when I've fallen in love with you?"

For a short moment Sousuke's world narrowed down to those few words, and it felt like his stomach turned upside down. Then he let go of Makoto's hands and hugged him close to his chest, holding him tight. He felt like he wouldn't be able to let go of Makoto ever again.

"I've fallen in love with you too," he whispered, the words finally able to escape from his lips. "Before I could hold myself back, I'd already lost my heart to you."

Makoto buried his face in Sousuke's shoulder, hot tears tingling on his skin. He clutched at Sousuke as sobs rippled through his body, holding on as if his life depended on it.

They stayed like this for what seemed like an eternity, with Sousuke drawing soothing circles on Makoto's back. But eventually Makoto had no more tears left to shed, and as he lifted his head off of Sousuke's shoulder, his cheeks were flushed from the crying and his eyes red-rimmed.

"Sousuke, I want to be with you," he breathed, his eyes sad and hopeless. "I want to be with you even though I know I can't."

"I know this feeling," Sousuke admitted bitterly. "I've experienced it many years before and now again. I tried to suppress it, I wanted to not see you again to keep myself from falling apart, but now I know that all my tries were in vain. I want to be with you as well, if you still want me after you know who I am."

A weak, tired smile graced Makoto's lips as he asked, "Why wouldn't I want to be with you?"

"That's because - " Oh God, now he would have to say it. The words which might make him lose Makoto forever. It took him all his remaining courage to say, "Because I'm the god of the underworld."

"The god of the underworld? You mean you are Hades?"

Sousuke cringed slightly at the name. So, now Makoto knew that he was the god of death, and now that he knew, he would hate Sousuke, hate him like so many humans did.

"That's the name the humans gave me a long time ago. But I'm still Sousuke," he said, an attempt at shooing away the picture of the merciless god of death. "I'm not like the god you always imagined. I'm still Sousuke."

He repeated that one sentence, desperate to convince Makoto that he still was the same man he'd first met on this very meadow, that he hadn't changed at all.

"I'm still the guy who sucks at making flower crowns, who'd get hopelessly lost in that huge city without your help. I'm still the guy who loves you from the very bottom of his heart. So please, _please_ don't call me like that."

Makoto didn't say a word. So, Sousuke thought, that's it. Makoto would now stand up, maybe give him a dirty look, and then walk away from Sousuke. No, he would walk away from _Hades_ , because that would be the only thing left that he was to Makoto: The god of the underworld.

He shut his eyes and clenched his teeth, preparing for the inevitable loss and pain to come. But instead he felt Makoto's fingers gently touching his cheek, wiping away a tear Sousuke hadn't even noticed rolling down his cheek. His eyes flew open to be met with Makoto's gentle ones.

"I know," Makoto said, caressing his cheek. "I know that you're still Sousuke. You being a god, that's... Well, it's troublesome, sure, but it doesn't make things impossible for us. So yes, I still want to be with you, if you want to be with me."

"B-But I'm not any god. I'm the god of death who the humans loathe the most," he whispered. Sousuke feared that this was a cruelly sweet dream from which he might awake at any moment, if he dared to look anywhere but into Makoto's eyes.

"I know that too. Sousuke, it doesn't matter to me which god you are. If you're the god of death, then that's how it is. I don't loathe you. After all, how should I be able to loathe the god of death when it is said god whom I've fallen in love with?"

Sousuke's eyes went wide, and it felt like all the anxiety, all the doubts he’d harbored for so long had been taken from him. His eyes started to fill with tears as he brought his hands up to cover Makoto's hand, which was still stroking his cheek.

"Oh Makoto," he sighed, tears of relief now spilling from his eyes, "I love you."

"I love you too."

Makoto leaned in to kiss his tears away before their lips finally met again, a gentle, almost heavenly sensation. It was just a chaste kiss, but for Sousuke it felt like all the emotions he'd ever had paled in comparison to _this_.

They lingered like that a moment longer before Sousuke brought their foreheads together, closing his eyes and just inhaling Makoto's scent.

"Sousuke," Makoto whispered, "I need to ask you something."

"What is it?" Sousuke opened his eyes again to drown in the emerald green in front of him.

"When you go to the underworld the next time, I want you to take me with you."


End file.
